Who We Are
Jesse B Rauch, President
Mr. Rauch is the president and founder of Friends of Screen on the Green, an organization established to build community around the landmark outdoor movie festival, Screen on the Green. Under Mr. Rauch’s leadership, Friends of Screen on the Green has reevaluated its mission, vision, values, and goals, and hopes to continue fostering a stronger relationship between HBO and the local DC community.
In addition to this role, Mr. Rauch is an entrepreneur, education advocate, and an avid supporter of using technology to engage communities in new, fun and social ways. Currently, Mr. Rauch is the Commissioner of District Karaoke, the District of Columbia’s only social, team-based karaoke league.
He is also the Vice President of Development & Partnerships for the Young Education Professionals-DC, one of the largest professional associations for people working in education. In this position, he has assisted the organization grow from less than 100 members to over 3,600 members and helped expand the organization into three (3) other cities.
Prior to this position, Jesse B worked in various positions related to improving education in the District of Columbia. Jesse B has an M.A. in Teaching and an M.P.P. He is originally from Long Island, New York.
Sarah Byrne, Treasurer
Ms. Byrne is a public service enthusiast inspired by the arts, environment and potential of youth, relationships and communities.
With over 13 years of volunteer experience, Ms. Byrne enjoys helping organizations foster simple yet engaging programming, organizational improvement, and fund development. Her background includes training and facilitation, performance management and financial management and analysis. She has worked with a range of federal, state, local, not-for-profit and international organizations.
Professionally, Ms. Byrne is a passionate emergency manager specializing in disaster housing, continuity of operations and exercise planning and voluntary organizations active in disasters. She currently works for Hagerty Consulting, a comprehensive emergency management consulting firm specializing in helping communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Ms. Byrne is also a long-time, active volunteer with the American Red Cross and the Maxwell School Alumni Association in DC. She is fluent in Spanish; holds a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University; and enjoys food, art, sports, travel and the outdoors.
Adam Zuckerman, At-Large
An entrepreneurial attorney with an MBA, Mr. Zuckerman is a people connector and author inspired by the intersections of business, law, media, technology, and all things outdoors.
With a passion for bringing people together in the DC/MD/VA entrepreneurship and technology scene, he focuses on identifying and implementing process improvements with an emphasis on performance improvement and transformation initiatives. With a diverse background spanning multiple industries, both legal and business, his areas of focus include business process re-engineering, organizational design and development, organizational change management, human capital management and project management.
Additionally, he also has extensive experience and interests in negotiating complex multi-party contracts in addition to analyzing, designing, and implementing programs relating to web-based technologies, marketing, advertising, open-gov/gov20, non-profit operations and fundraising.
He is currently working in a full-time capacity at Discovery Communications, Inc., the world’s largest non-fiction media company, in a technology innovation capacity. He also founded Foster.ly, a resource for entrepreneurs in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Zuckerman served as Vice President and and General Counsel for JESS3, LLC, a leading creative interactive agency with a client list including Red Bull, MTV, Nike, Twitter, Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, MySpace, Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Samsung, Pfizer, NASA, and more.
Keri Kae Almstead, Communications Director
An unapologetic nonprofiteer, Ms. Almstead is a fundraiser and communicator with an entrepreneurial attitude whose passion for philanthropy, community and social good permeates her life both professionally and personally. A student of philanthropy and community engagement from an early age, her experience includes fundraising, event planning, marketing, partnership development, strategic planning, and brand development.
A District resident for nearly 10 years, she has served on local nonprofit boards and had the distinct honor and pleasure of helping launch the Arlington-based P2V, or PETS2VETS, a program providing a cost-effective alternative to animal assisted therapy for military personnel and emergency first responders. She has volunteered with Back on My Feet, the Choral Arts Society, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
She currently works full-time as a catalyst for individual philanthropy managing a nationwide portfolio at World Food Program USA, the US-based organization shaping public policy and generating resources for United Nations World Food Programme.Prior to her current position, Ms. Almstead launched the first-ever major gifts program at the United Nations Foundation where she was a Senior Associate, worked in resource development for the Washington Performing Arts Society, and assisted in the development of an annual donor advocacy program at CARE.
She holds a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University and has lived, worked and studied in Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
Brittany Singer, Social Media & Engagement Director
A Miami-native turned DC local, Ms. Singer is a full-time public relations professional, part-time graduate student, with a passion for helping clients meet their business goals and improve their bottom-line through effective community engagement, brand management and strategic communications planning.
Currently, Ms. Singer works as an account coordinator for Ketchum, a global PR agency. There she supports both federal and corporate clients through drafting and distributing client-ready monitoring reports, securing media placements within selected markets, as well as drafting and implementing social media strategies that engage target audiences.
Prior to Ketchum, Ms. Singer gained experience working with clients in crisis and litigation at Levick Strategic Communications. There Ms. Singer assisted in the creation and implementation of crisis communications plans, alerted key staff to significant media coverage through continuous media monitoring and secured media placements for Fortune 500 executives in top-tier outlets.
Ms. Singer began attending Screen on the Green in 2008, when she served as a Congressional intern. She started to become more closely involved with Friend of Screen on the Green in 2010. In 2011, she assisted the organization in developing the 2011 season’s official press release.
Ms. Singer received her B.A. in International Relations and Spanish from Bucknell University, has lived and studied in Spain, and is a fluent Spanish speaker, trained in Spanish-English translation.
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